PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RIGOBERTA MENCHU BREAKING

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000740 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI KDEM PHUM EAID SNAR GT SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RIGOBERTA MENCHU BREAKING NEW GROUND FOR GUATEMALA'S INDIGENOUS REF: A. GUATEMALA 696 ¶B. GUATEMALA 653 ¶C. GUATEMALA 384 This is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador met on April 16 with indigenous presidential candidate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. Menchu stressed that her election campaign will address not only the concerns of indigenous organizations but will focus on the broader challenges confronting Guatemala -- public insecurity, corruption, and organized crime. She reiterated several times that her candidacy in this year's elections was an important step for building a more "inclusive" Guatemala by drawing more women and indigenous into the political process. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) During the Ambassador's April 16 lunch at the home of Nobel laureate and Guatemala's first indigenous female presidential candidate Rigoberta Menchu, Menchu spoke candidly about her candidacy, its significance, and prospects for the future of her country and the indigenous population. Also attending the lunch were her husband, Angel Canil, and Mario Polanco, director of human rights NGO Grupo Apoyo Mutuo (GAM),who is supporting the Menchu campaign and its alliance with his wife, Congresswoman Nineth Montenegro, and her new party, "Encounter for Guatemala" (EG). Like other candidates, Menchu highlighted public insecurity as one of her top concerns, noting the prevalence of gangs and crimes and urging international support to address the growing problem. She agreed with the Ambassador that private security guards are not the answer to Guatemala's crime problem and advocated for the purging and reform of the police, including a highly selective mechanism to recruit new police officers, to improve security. ¶3. (SBU) Menchu noted that candidates' security is a key concern in this year's elections but that none of the candidates in the first round are provided security by the State. She expressed concern over the heavy influence of narcotrafficking in the elections (ref A) and emphasized the importance of transparency of campaign finance, especially for public figures. Polanco noted that Menchu's movement, Winaq, was virtually penniless and relied almost exclusively on in-kind donations from campaign supporters. ¶4. (SBU) Regarding her relationship with the current administration, she indicated she had parted with the Berger Administration on good terms, and praised Berger for naming her a goodwill ambassador and giving her the space to successfully represent the concerns of the indigenous people. With regard to her relationship with the Guatemalan community in the U.S., Menchu noted that she has a very good relationship with the communities in Los Angeles and Florida and that she will be attending a meeting in New York City of Nobel Peace laureates in September. ¶5. (SBU) When asked if she might run again in the 2011 presidential elections, she claimed that she intended to win this year's election, in which case she would not be eligible to run in 2011. She indicated that she was very content with her candidacy in this year's elections and that it was a "great honor" to have been asked to run as EG's candidate. She viewed her candidacy as breaking new ground for the indigenous, raising the level of respect and dignity, and promoting greater opportunities for women, with the aim of creating a more pluralistic, participatory society. She acknowledged that while her priority has been addressing societal problems she needed to reach out to the private sector business community to also address economic development. Derham